


Second Best

by poisonivory



Category: Big Time Rush
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-07
Updated: 2012-07-07
Packaged: 2017-11-09 09:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonivory/pseuds/poisonivory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people have life handed to them. Others have to wait a little longer.</p><p>Set directly after "Big Time Breakup."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Best

When they get back from the airport after kissing Jo goodbye, James, Carlos, and Logan all wordlessly agree that Kendall needs some time alone. James heads down to the pool for a quick tan, but the first thing he sees when he gets there is New Girl Stacey, wearing a super cute tankini, reading _Pop Tiger_ , and for _once_ without her ultra-protective stage mother hovering around her.

This calls for strategy. This calls for _suaveness_. This calls for a bouquet of flowers freshly picked from Palm Woods Park.

Towel slung over his shoulder, James heads around to the other side of the Palm Woods. Checking to make sure neither Bitters nor Buddha Bob is there – for some reason, they don’t seem to appreciate the efforts he takes to make nice bouquets from their flowers – he picks a bunch and starts to head back to the pool.

That’s when he hears the crying.

There’s something familiar about it, but he doesn’t recognize it until he peers around a hedge and sees Camille sobbing into her hands. At first he hopes it’s for a role, but there’s no script in her lap and it sounds like she’s trying to muffle it.

“Hey,” he says, coming around the hedge. “You okay?”

Camille jerks her head up. Her eyes are red, her face streaked with mascara, and James feels a sympathetic pang. Definitely not for a role.

“Oh, hi, James,” she says, wiping quickly at her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just, uh…something in my eye.”

James pulls a bandanna out of his pocket, hands it to her, and sits down. “Okay, I may not be the brightest guy around, but I know that’s not true. What’s wrong?”

Camille blows her nose on the bandanna, which is pretty gross, but James has plenty more. “Sorry. It’s just…it’s. You know. Jo.”

That makes sense. Jo and Camille were really close. James knows he’d be wrecked if any of the guys left. “Hey, you don’t have to be sorry. I’d cry too if my best friend was going to New Zealand for three years.”

Camille shakes her head. “I’m not crying because Jo left,” she says, chin trembling. “I’m crying because I’m _not_ crying because Jo left.” Her face crumples and she bursts into noisy sobs again.

That makes less sense, but James can’t stand to see her like this. He scoots closer and rubs her back gently, the way he’s seen Mrs. Knight do for Katie a hundred times, back when Katie still cried. “I don’t get it.”

Camille sniffs, takes a ragged breath, and raises her head. “Jo’s my best friend, and I’m gonna miss her,” she says. “But…ugh. Sorry. No. It’s stupid and awful and I’m the worst friend in the world.”

“Hey,” James says, hand still on her back. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”

Camille bites her lip. “Okay.” She swipes at her eyes with the bandanna, leaving a streak of mascara across one cheekbone. “I’m happy for Jo. Really, I am. But…I’ve been here for three years, James. Three _years_. I’ve gone on two hundred and forty-seven auditions. I’ve knocked on every door in this whole stupid town. And the biggest thing I’ve ever done was seven episodes on _The Magic Middle School_. Two of them I didn’t even have a _line._ ”

For a minute she looks like she’s about to cry again, but she holds it in. “But Jo gets here and in three _months_ she’s the lead on a CW show. The lead! And then she has to decide between _that_ and the biggest female part in the biggest teen movie franchise in the _world_. You know, I auditioned for that part too.” She sniffles. “I didn’t even get a callback.”

James doesn’t know what to say, but Camille’s not done. “And it’s not just acting. Do you know how long it took me to get Logan to notice me? To ask me _out?_ I thought he was just shy, but you guys were all fighting over Jo the day she got here. _Including_ Logan.”

She sighs. “I love Jo. But…it’s like she doesn’t even _try_ , and everything I want just lands in her lap. Do you know what I mean?”

James could tell her about the way it felt when Gustavo said he wanted Kendall and not James, the way it felt to watch his dream being handed to someone who didn’t even _want_ it, but he doesn’t have words for the pain of it – the raw, sickening sting of rejection and jealousy and betrayal all at once.

“Yeah,” he says instead. “I think so.”

“I can’t tell her any of this,” Camille says. “It’s not her fault.”

James shakes his head. It’s never Kendall’s fault either. These things just _happen_ to him.

And never to James.

“Ignore Logan,” he says, because Camille’s looking at him like it’s his turn to talk. “He doesn’t know what he wants with girls. I think he just went after Jo because the rest of us were. But I know he thinks you’re great.”

Camille swipes at her eyes again. “Really?”

Something about the hopeful note in her voice makes James feel a little sick, but he nods. “He always says you’re really cool. And obviously you’re totally hot.”

Camille beams at him. The sick feeling recedes.

“And, I mean, I don’t know. You’re the one who told me you don’t get every audition. And Jo’s big break happened before yours. But that doesn’t mean you’re not gonna get yours,” James says. “You’re so talented, and you never give up, and I think that matters the most. More than luck. More than that…that once in a lifetime chance.”

“You think so?” she asks.

James nods. He has to believe it. He _has_ to. “Yeah,” he says. “I do.”

“Thanks,” Camille says. Her eyes are still red and she’s cried all the makeup off her face, but she’s smiling, and James knows he’s looking at a future star. “Oh no, I got your bandanna all snotty.”

“Keep it,” James says. “And…here.” He hands her the flowers he picked. They’re a little wilted from the heat of his hand, but Camille looks at them like they’re perfect and rare.

“What’s this?” she asks.

“You’re gonna get a million bouquets when you’re famous,” James says. “I want these to be the first.”

Camille looks at the flowers again, then throws her arms around his neck. “James Diamond, you are the sweetest guy in the whole world.” She kisses his cheek. “I’ve gotta go wash my face. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” James tells her. He watches her walk back towards the Palm Woods, and even though he’s probably missed his window of opportunity with New Girl Stacey, he feels like a million bucks. He made Camille feel better, and he meant every word he said. Logan doesn’t know what he wants. Camille _is_ totally hot. And she _is_ going to be a star. James is sure of it.

He can hardly wait.


End file.
